Monday, March 15, 2004
Drink anybody?
Continuing the theme of dangerous liquids Iain Coleman draws attention to a very funny but totally un-PC site about stupid people. My favourite story so far is about the Californian City of Aliso Viejo whose officials were so concerned about the potentially dangerous properties of dihydrogen monoxide that they considered banning foam cups after they learned the chemical was used in their production. They apparently fell victim to one of the many official looking Web sites that have been put up by pranksters to describe dihydrogen monoxide as "an odorless, tasteless chemical" that can be deadly if accidentally inhaled. As a result, the City Council of this Orange County suburb had been scheduled to vote next week on a proposed law that would have banned the use of foam containers at city-sponsored events. Among the reasons given for the ban were that they were made with a substance that could "threaten human health and safety." Then they learned that dihydrogen monoxide - H2O for short - is the scientific term for water.
